newswire archive

The Portland Solidarity Network encourages all of our friends and supporters to help us with mass call-ins this coming Tuesday, August 28th, from Noon to 3pm. We are calling Brian Wannamaker and the offices of the Falcon Art Community, which he owns. The numbers to call are: (503) 701-7016,(503) 914-8883, and (503) 284-5119.

Demonstration at Portland City Hall protesting City Council's intention to add fluoride to the pristine Bull Run water. Interviews with many of the well informed and passionate citizens who want this put to a vote. The community has already voted this down three times in recent decades.

The Portland Solidarity Network has won our most recent campaign! Our friend Beth received a check for her full deposit only a week after we delivered a demand letter to the offices of her former landlord, Brian Wannamaker!

As the Philippine government dithered and made excuses for its grossly inadequate response to the catastrophic floods — which inundated 80% of the country's capital, Manila — Sonny Melencio was leading a grassroots relief effort that brought the first food supplies in days to some of the poorest and most badly affected communities.

Jay Johnson from the Punk Rock Karaoke Collective in Chicago came through Portland, OR to put on this awesome event for Laughing Horse Books! This felt more like a punk show than karaoke, it was wonderful to see so many folks singing their favorite songs together.

Crisis and chance are represented by the same Chinese letters. Shareholder value capitalism and financial capitalism reach their breaking points when nature is reduced to a free good, sink or external, when teachers are laid off, when arsonists are mistaken for firefighters and when banks receive trillions while libraries and schools face severe cuts.

The Portland Solidarity Network is sponsoring an introduction to and training on Solidarity Networks on Saturday, July 28th at 3pm at In Other Words Community Center on 14 NE Killingsworth Street. Members of the Seattle Solidarity Network - who have won more than 20 campaigns for justice for workers and tenants - will be putting on the training for the general public.

Elinor Ostrom was well-known in 2009 when she was the first woman to receive the Nobel Prize for economics. In her analysis of "governance of the commons," she put in question the past economic model that common goods can only be managed successfully by the market or the state. For Ostrom, research and knowledge thrive best when used and developed in common.

"Copenhagen's comeback gives hope to people around the world who want to make sure that lively public places don't disappear in this era of rampant traffic, proliferating privatization, heightened security measures, overpowering commercialization and the general indifference .."

It is footage of Grandmother Occupier Nan Wigmore speaking about Occupy(ing)
and footage from recent Casserole / Dance Party gatherings in Pioneer Square in solidarity with the Student Loan crisis and Canada tuition hike protests. More footage from around the US is also included examples: [Solidarity Rally for Healthcare Justice hunger strikers, Occupy Catholics General Assembly on Freedoms, Solidarity Event: Foreclosure of Minnesota Cruz family home]

At the edge of the world and the end of civilization, we stand on the abyss of ecological collapse, mass extinction and catastrophic change. Our bioregion is under an assault by corporations and the cancer that is consumerism. This assault is a series of battles from the theft of the water commons by Nestlé. The theft of coal from Rockies and its spreading of black dust on across our lands on trains headed to the coast. The mismanagement of the US government and theft of public funds by Bechtel of nuclear waste at Hanford as well as a denial of contamination of the Columbia watershed. The proposal of fracking in southwest Washington State. Mass denial or even cover up of radiation from Fukushima in water, milk, food, tuna and so forth. All the while the society is under attack with tuition costs, public transportation fare increases, social safety-net cuts, debt increases, foreclosures and a health insurance system that is nothing else but a pyramid scheme. While drones fly over head as police surveillance increases and the death toll mounts in wars overseas. On October 7th will be the eleventh year of the American Imperial War in Afghanistan. Maybe its time for a paradigm shift before global climatic and ecological collapse! Free Cascadia, decolonize your mind and liberate your spirit!

hold elections from time to time with regard to these two newspaper barons. Certainly, putting new blood in these non profits couldn't disrupt some vast eternal plan.
I have their phone numbers if you would like to call them and ask them just what gives that they
are the CEO's over there,and what are the big advantages of their power positions.
Timothy Harris can be reached at 206-441-3247
and Israel Bayer can be contacted locally at 503-228-5657.
It seems to me,and I am just one voice blowing in the breeze,that there is alot of peripheral profits being made by these two "defenders of the voiceless" to disseminate the right kind of news dare I say, in a direction steered away from very pressing injustices with regard to more local issues right here at home.

On Sunday, June 24th, the Portland Central America Solidarity Committee (PCASC) will host our annual brunch at the SEIU 49 union hall. We've got something special planned this year that you won't want to miss!

Democratic Party and union leaders were afraid of the power of people on display in Madison, afraid of a movement that had blossomed out of their control and afraid that they would not look "respectable" in the eyes of establishment power brokers and the corporate mass media. Union leaders, once again, mobilized their memberships to elect Democrats without asking for anything ahead of time.

"The Commons is a way of reproducing society that opposes the market logic, puts in question private property, profit and competition and points to a future form of society beyond capitalism.. The Commons is not the solution but the change of perspectives that makes possible new solutions."

On January, 28th, Issa was admitted to the Providence Hospital Intensive Care Unit. Doctors were sharing with the family that Issa had a 50% chance of living and he may not live through the night. He was lying in the hospital bed, unresponsive, on a ventilator, and on a 24-hour hemodialysis. Issa had contracted Neisseria Meningitides, also known as Meningococcal. This bacterial infection attacked Issa's body throughout the bloodstream within hours,causing severe sickness called Septicemia.

I'm trying to locate Info Joe, whom I understand is with the Portland Occupier. I have an email address (which begins "superjoe," but that address is not effective in reaching him. Can anyone help me by giving me a phone number, another email address, anything? Thanks, stu stusugarman.law@gmail.com

Public Access program featuring an interview with a retired postal letter carrier, recently arrested along with nine other people protesting recent attempts to privatize the Postal Service. Program features video from the rally, march and arrests at the University Post Office in Portland Oregon on May 24, 2012.Don't Privatize the US Postal Service

For 3 weeks, urban farm activists occupied and farmed a plot of land in Albany, CA. Riot police raided the farm on May 14... The ground we were sitting on would eventually be paved over with concrete or asphalt, according to the UC [Berkeley] plan. The UC administrators were supposed to be the stewards of this parcel of public land, but who ever told them it was theirs to develop? I thought of the 19th century philosopher who famously defined property as theft.

SE Portland neighborhood and business groups have formed a sustainability
partnership to develop a shared future vision of their community and devise
joint projects to achieve it. They are building an Eco-District from the
grassroots.

Join the Portland Fruit Tree Project in preventing waste, building community, and making fresh fruit available to neighbors in need...
As a Tree Scout, you will identify and register fruit trees in a designated neighborhood area, and conduct follow-up with tree owners that want to share the bounty. It's a fun way to meet neighbors and help make locally grown produce available to all.

The Holgate Library replaced the Wickman-Arleta Library. The building still stands and has been in semi-use by Multnomah County. The Wickman-Arleta Building is the brick building near S.E. 64th Avenue, on Holgate one short block from where Foster and Holgate converge. Please support the Foster-Powell Community (and others) on May 3 as they determine how to repurpose the building so that it can become an important gathering place for the neighborhood. YES to community autonomy and self-determination! NO to for-profit developers!

The War Resister's League of Portland will be hosting their annual Tax Day Redirection Program (redirecting federal tax dollars away from war and instead giving to local non-profits)with special guest speaker Sharif Abdullah. Dr. Abdullah is an attorney, author, professor and innovator...

We got a chance to talk to Brandon of the Portland based Solidarity network, who have expanded their horizons to anti - eviction and tenants' rights work. No doubt there is a new avenue of Class Struggle arising at home, and this Network is taking the forefront of that struggle. GET INVOLVED!

Ever seen those painted intersections or small covered benches around Portland neighborhoods? Here's when they are made! This is a brief press release for a community-powered event happening May 25 - June 3. The Village Building Convergence is a 10-festival of ecological installations and holistic celebration!

anarcho-syndicalist union CNT has called for a general strike in spain for march 29th. not to be left out, the other major labor unions have also called their members and supporters out as well.the idea has gone viral throughout europe, and the spanish general strike has spawned a european day of action against capital, to be carried out on march 31.

we're all experiencing this together, so why not take part and make it a worldwide general strike and mobilization against capital?

and instead of trying to all gather in one place, why not gather in local parks? and instead of confronting the masses of police arrayed against us, why not talk with our neighbors, friends and allies? and why not check out more than one gathering? And why not carry banners through the neighborhoods, singing songs, chanting, and asking everyone we meet to join us?

When Occupy started out last fall, the only thing I could think of is how poor a time fall is for a revolution. Humans follow the same patterns as plants, in fall the fruits of the year's growth have matured and are ready to be enjoyed, and winter is a time to take shelter and look within. Not the best time for an uprising. But Spring is a time to bloom forth and see a new light, as life burgeons all around us!

Reach Out and Write! Come join us for letters to political prisoners night. Everything is provided, including basic instructions. New prisoner bio cards with each event feature people imprisoned on many different issues. Shuffle through and pick out a new friend! Writing helps lessen the isolation experienced by many people in prison. It also lets institutions know someone is watching how they treat people. This is easy and can make someone's life a little happier.
Hope to see you there!

* What is a Gift Economy and how do we create it?
* What are the root problems in our current economic and money systems?
* What does a money system look like that no longer destroys but instead heals nature, culture, and the human spirit?
Wednesday, March 7th, 2012, 7pm
First Unitarian Church, Eliot Chapel 1011 SW 12th Ave, Portland, OR 97201

Thursday, March 15, the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) is hosting a Drive to End Hunger Movie Night (and Day). Bring 4 cans of food to a participating theatre and receive a free ticket to a movie! All food donations go to the Oregon Food Bank. You do NOT have to be a senior or retired person to participate.

A community forum exploring the local impacts of past Free Trade Agreements, what the massive new Trans-Pacific Free Trade Agreement means for your community, and how you can help prevent this "NAFTA of the Pacific."

This is Part I of a two-part series on infiltration of Occupy and what the movement can do about limiting the damage of those who seek to destroy us from within. This first article describes public reports of infiltration as well as results of a survey and discussions with Occupiers about this important issue. The second article will examine the history of political infiltration and steps we can take to address it.

There's no way around it. In its current form, Bank of America poses a grave threat to our economy. It is massive, complex and unstable - too big to manage and too big to regulate. Its assets are equal to roughly one-seventh of the U.S. gross domestic product.Sign the Petition to Break Up Bank of America

A Growing Concern tonight, live at 7:00 on Comcast cable channel 11 will feature a conversation with Erin Madden, an environmental lawyer and member of the Occupy Portland Solutions Committee.
Erin will speak about the history of growing corporate power and the many campaigns working to deliver our country back to the people.

Eyes & Ears is a newsletter created and published for the past 15 years by and for persons with a diagnosis of mental illness. It contains local and national news, resources and event listings, and individuals stories of accomplishment and hope. Eyes and Ears

The occupy movement surprised me by becoming a great success, even though I initially had no expectation of that. I thought it was insane to pitch tents in big cities, and to conduct "General Assemblies" to make decisions by consensus, with goofy "twinkling," etc. I think I was right about it being insane, but nevertheless it was extremely effective. On the other hand, I doubt that these tactics will again be used often, simply because they are far too labor intensive. Even if the "bang for the buck" is worth the effort, there simply are practical limits on the amount of effort people can afford to invest.

The Trans-Pacific FTA is being negotiated behind closed doors between a dozen countries throughout the Pacific Rim. Journalists, most Members of Congress and the people most likely to be impacted by these negotiations are barred from reviewing the U.S. proposals, but approximately 600 corporate lobbyists certified as official "citizen advisers" have regular access to both the negotiating documents and the negotiators.

150+ Occupy groups were nominated for a chance to win a tent or laptop from Occupy Supply. DADT activist Dan Choi will personally deliver the tents and hold a celebration courtesy of Occupy Supply! Runners-up will receive a $100 gift certificate to the Occupy Supply store.

A new society must be built outside of this one. By working "within the system," one is only integrating oneself further into the system. That's how the Ultramodern world works. Anything that expands or requires economic activity feeds the elitist system. This is what is expected of us. In order to create a healthier, nuturing future for ourselves and our descendants, we are going to have to create new lives outside of the realm of economics and alienation.